Humanity – A Wickedly Wise Inspiration Card

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF HUMANITY? How does the lack of it effect impressionable children? Take a moment to read a short memoir below – THE TROPHY ROOM – to hear how antlers on a wall and other hunting trophies on display were viewed by one small child I knew very well.

According to Dictionary.com the definition of Humanity is thequalityofbeinghumane;kindness;benevolence. For a society to be peaceful at all levels humane treatment must be extended to all those who live and breathe in your circle of existence. All that surround you should be safe from harm unless you are acting in self-defense defending your own health, safety and life or you are defending the lives of your family or others lives. I realize that in today’s world the old tried and true Golden Rule might seem trivial, trite and insignificant, but it really does speak volumes in very few words – Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto To You… I believe with all my heart that should extend to the animals of the world too. What we do as adults and parents dramatically teaches our children by example, and what we teach them is our legacy to the world. Be Humane! The future of society and its behavior may truly depend on it!

THE TROPHY ROOM

When I was a child my family would visit friends of the family with a scary room in their house. This room was a trophy room for a member of the family that held hunting trophies that had been handed down from an older family member. It had real bearskin rugs in front of the fireplace and deer antlers on the wall and it had chairs that had backs made from the horns of some unfortunate animals from a big game hunt in a foreign land. As children, we were sent into that room to play, and to this day if I close my eyes I can still see that terrifying room, and I can still feel the absolute repulsiveness of what it signified. I didn’t know exactly what that was back then, but I knew I didn’t like it. I do know what it signifies now. It speaks very loudly that some people do not think that slaughtering animals as sport for their trophy rooms is an insult to humanity.

Along this same line, deer culling for the sake of saving shrubs and plants equally lacks reason and humanity. You can plant more bushes and shrubs but you cannot change the horrible thoughts that are set in stone in a child’s mind when they are told they can’t go outside at night because they could be mistaken for a deer and shot with a arrow in their own back yard. Who would ever think that this is a reasonable position to take other than someone whose values lack humanity and who values shrubs over living breathing creatures?

Make no mistake when I say that this is very different than when people hunt for food. This is slaughter for sport. This is beneath the dignified behavior that should be expected of all human beings by virtue of the fact that they have the ability to discern the difference between what is right and what is wrong, and to choose to take the civilized path.

The very description of humanity means that you should act as a human which gives you a responsibility to protect not massacre the animals who share the earth with us.

In our world in these times we daily hear and read about sociopathic and psychopathic behavior, and how it is undermining the expectations of mutual respect for the other people who share the earth with us.

I simply can’t help but wonder – are we as thinking, walking human beings De-Evolving? It’s a scary thought; but perhaps the Sci-Fi Zombie Apocalypse portrayed in movies is really a warning of what happens when humans stop acting like humans who think and feel and coexist on this earth, to protect our humanity for now and for the future.

Until next time, have a warm heart but be COOL! Be happy, be well, and be the best you that you can be!